Film, muziek & media

Is Ambient Music Evil?

Blackbird Spyplane argues streaming stripped ambient music of ritual, flattening it into algorithm-friendly vibes.

blackbirdspyplane.com ↗ · #361

An entire game out of cardboard, paper, and a splash of 3D

Amanita Design built Phonopolis entirely from cardboard and paper, proving analog craft can outshine any render.

itsnicethat.com ↗ · #357

GENER8ION - STORM starring Yung Lean

Directed by Romain Gavras, set in 2034, starring Yung Lean. A 7-minute boarding school fever dream. So far, our favorite music film of 2026.

youtube.com ↗ · #355

The perfect magazine, just in time for the weekend

Hii Magazine offers a curated sanctuary for sound culture, perfect for a slow, deep dive into auditory art this weekend.

hii-mag.com ↗ · #353

Redesigning the Record of Note

Creative Director Gail Bichler reveals how the New York Times Magazine navigated its first redesign in a decade to meet a shifting media landscape.

itsnicethat.com ↗ · #353

A Journal Built for the Browser

The HTML Review features poetry, nonfiction, fiction, graphics, and experimental works that use the web as a medium.

thehtml.review ↗ · #352

A Masterclass in Tangible Nostalgia

GamePop magazine’s latest cover uses Red Bull's Tetris-inspired art to prove that physical print still holds a tactile power AI can't quite replicate.

dezeen.com ↗ · #352

Beef Is Back: A Watch Recommendation

The countdown for Season 2 begins with a stellar new cast featuring Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan.

netflix.com ↗ · #351

A Seriously Good Dance Film!

It’s Not That Serious is a visually striking dance film that proves that collective energy still travels far without explanation.

youtu.be ↗ · #346

Pixar: The Early Days

An unearthed 1996 conversation capturing Pixar before it became Pixar: all raw ambition, oddball ingenuity, and the thrill of invention.

stevejobsarchive.com ↗ · #344

Whole Earth Index

A near-complete digital archive of Whole Earth’s radical, optimistic publishing lineage a reminder that counterculture once came in catalog form.

wholeearth.info ↗ · #344

Music, Myth & Motion

Orfeo Tagiuri’s new animated music videos for Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe are lyrical, layered, and deeply referential from Eames to Blake.

itsnicethat.com ↗ · #343

The Scope Creep (…and the Horror Within)

A darkly funny, painfully relatable interactive narrative experience in the creative industry.

scope-creep.xyz ↗ · #343

A24 Go Back to Analogue

In a refreshingly lo-fi move, A24 dropped a new analogue collection including photobooks and movie logs that invite fans to unplug, rewind, and reconnect with physical creativity.

instagram.com ↗ · #341

OK Go Open-Sources a Music Video

The band known for chaos choreography drops its most experimental project yet: a video designed to be remixed, re-edited, and reimagined by you.

itsnicethat.com ↗ · #339

Wise Advice for the Next Generation

i-D’s latest cover is a letter to the next generation: 26 of the world’s luminaries from Nan Goldin to Marina Abramović share words of wisdom to navigate the world in 2025.

i-d.co ↗ · #339

The Best Films of the 21st Century

The New York Times just dropped a beautifully designed list of the 100 most impactful films of the past two decades. Debate starts now.

nytimes.com ↗ · #335

Building Bluey’s World

In this deep dive, art director Catriona Drummond reveals how they carefully and beautifully built the world of Bluey, the most beloved children’s show on earth.

itsnicethat.com ↗ · #334

The End of Publishing As We Know It

A long-read unpacks how chatbot overviews & summary features are keeping users locked into conversations, and threatening media & journalism as we know it.

theatlantic.com ↗ · #333

All the Films in Competition at Cannes 2025, Ranked from Best to Worst

The festival served up its richest edition in years, with multiple standouts among the twenty-two films in contention for the Palme d’Or.

newyorker.com ↗ · #331

‘Parasite’ Director’s New Film Proves Space Won’t Save Us

The Oscar-winning director’s latest film lays bare the brutal realities of capitalism and class exploitation.

atmos.earth ↗ · #326

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Thoughtful stories for thoughtless times, showcasing stories from Julia Webster Ayuso, Abe Beame, Tracy Thompson, Will Boast, and Gary Grimes.

longreads.com ↗ · #325

The High Price of Paradise in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3

The dark comedy’s latest installment is set in Thailand, where over tourism has devastating environmental—and human—consequences.

atmos.earth ↗ · #324

How 27 filmmakers came together to make Coldplay’s epic, sprawling video

Director Isabel Garrett takes us behind the scenes of the mixed-media film, which saw a flock of animators, filmmakers and artists contribute eclectic segments to create one marvellous mosaic.

itsnicethat.com ↗ · #323

The Stranger Things Effect Comes for the Novel

In modern fiction, vintage media have emerged as tactile objects that symbolize integrity, solve the crime, and radiate realness.

theatlantic.com ↗ · #323

Varying Portraits of Women in Top Films

This year’s Best Actress Oscar race is particularly crowded. With only five slots open, many fine performances may be edged out. Among the other front-runners are stars playing women struggling with sexuality, aging, life and death itself.

culturaldaily.com ↗ · #322

How Minecraft is inspiring a new wave of art and design

Generative art, immersive installations, and virtual music festivals – Minecraft’s cultural cachet goes far beyond the Overworld.

itsnicethat.com ↗ · #320

Family's homemade stop-motion Christmas film gets global streaming release

Steal The Naughty List is the four-year labour of love of an engineering dad and homeschooled teens from Mississippi. Could this be the unexpected hit of the holiday season?

creativeboom.com ↗ · #319

Age of Empires II at 25: the strategy game that inspired a generation of historians

Many historians of a certain age admit that the game reinforced their passion for the past and got them into the field. Four of them explain what drew them in.

theguardian.com ↗ · #319

Alfonso Cuarón Subverted Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Now He’s Coming for TV

Gravity, Children of Men, the best Harry Potter movie—and now a seven-part miniseries? With Disclaimer, director Alfonso Cuarón has set out to conquer TV in the name of cinema.

wired.com ↗ · #318

Take Your Spotify Playlists to the Next Level With Custom Cover Art

Spotify is giving music fans the power to design and customize their own playlist cover art so their playlists can always look as good as they sound.

newsroom.spotify.com ↗ · #317

How Everyone Got Lost in Netflix’s Endless Library

Ten years after Silicon Valley remade TV, it’s become clear how the streaming revolution distorted our collective viewing habits — and sense of the culture.

nytimes.com ↗ · #316

Teen achieves first NES Tetris “rebirth,” proves endless play is possible

Dogplayingtetris blasts past 3,300-line rollover in two-hour, 29M-point endurance test.

arstechnica.com ↗ · #316

Michel Gondry - Do It Yourself ! | ARTE Cinema

A brilliant jack-of-all-trades whose eccentric talent convinced the creative elite of international pop music to entrust him with his music videos.

youtube.com ↗ · #315

Composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer on “Renaissance”

Composer Cristobal Tapai de Veer talks through stirring up emotions in THAT haunting The White Lotus theme song.

youtu.be ↗ · #311

The best comedy shows at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024

Whether you’re hitting Edinburgh for Fringe this month or looking for some future comedy show inspiration, this one is for you.

timeout.com ↗ · #311

I Saw My Anxiety Reflected in ‘Inside Out 2.’ It Floored Me.

New emotions join the original gang as Riley hits puberty – and it looks like Disney have really nailed the details of how we feel.

nytimes.com ↗ · #308

Level up: exploring the artistic side of video game design

An exploration into the world of video games and the artistic and creative efforts that go into such a stunning visual experience.

itsnicethat.com ↗ · #302

Physical media week

A dark reality is emerging - we rarely have ownership over the art we love, and much is getting lost in the process. This series explores the importance of physical media.

theverge.com ↗ · #301

nicecream.fm

An eclectic mix of chilled dance, electronica and more, the perfect mix for a working day or relaxing in the summer. Love a song you heard? Each track is linked to Spotify and Apple Music so you can save it!

nicecream.fm ↗ · #301

How an African streaming service dethroned Netflix

According to the subscription figures late last year, a young South African company has zoomed past Netflix to become Africa’s streaming platform of choice.

restofworld.org ↗ · #299

The Tremendous Yet Troubled State of Gaming in 2024

To players and outside observers, last year appeared to be one of the gaming industry’s greatest-ever years, yet on the inside, things don’t look so rosy. Explore this deep dive into what’s really going on in gaming.

matthewball.vc ↗ · #298

Will TikTok Videos Be Muted?

UMG says TikTok proposed payouts for its artists that were a “fraction” of the amount other major social platforms pay and in response, TikTok called the label “self-serving” for its decision to walk away from a “powerful” platform with over a billion users.

forbes.com ↗ · #298

Spotify Wrapped 2023 adds an AI DJ and Blend to the annual personalized insights

The funkiest data insights experience dropped this week with some new features including an analysis of how you listen and a hamburger-style layout of your favourite genres, designed for social sharing.

techcrunch.com ↗ · #295

The Halloween 2023 StoryScream: things to play and watch this spooky season

Embrace spooky season with this curated collection of games to play and films to enjoy (or hide behind the sofa) from the Verge.

theverge.com ↗ · #292

The 50 best podcasts to listen to in 2023

From true crime and intriguing stories to politics and philosophy, if you need a new podcast to listen to you’re bound to find something in this handy list.

timeout.com ↗ · #291

Made On YouTube: Empowering Anyone to Create on YouTube

YouTube has unveiled a suite of tools, features and functionalities that will help anyone, no matter their dreams or skills, create video content.

blog.youtube ↗ · #290

Roblox wants to be a dating app

With a roadmap for the next 5 years including exclusive experiences for ages 17+, Roblox has faith in this wild idea.

theverge.com ↗ · #290

The AI Drake ‘Ghostwriter’ is back with a new song and is chasing a Grammy

And they might have a chance of winning the entry categories of best rap song and song of the year as the lyrics themselves were actually written by a human.

theverge.com ↗ · #289

Greta Gerwig on the Blockbuster ‘Barbie’ Opening

With a $100m+ marketing budget and a record breaking opening weekend, it’s all anyone has been talking about, whether they liked it or not.

nytimes.com ↗ · #286

Life in plastic, it’s fantastic

content.jwplatform.com ↗ · #285

The Case for and Against Ed Sheeran

It’s a fine line between original music and copyright infringement in pop music, and Ed Sheeran is at the heart of it.

newyorker.com ↗ · #283

Live Air Traffic Control x Lofi Beats

Need focus music but with an element of disturbance? We strongly recommend you listen to live air traffic control radio mixed with lofi hip hop.

lofiatc.com ↗ · #282

The 6 biggest announcements from Sony’s PlayStation Showcase 2023

All the major reveals and announcements, including a hand-held console.

theverge.com ↗ · #282

EYECANDY for the love of film-making

A nicely packed up gallery of visual techniques to enjoy and learn from.

eycndy.com ↗ · #280

No One Wants Max’s Harry Potter TV Series

Obliviate or levitate? Harry Potter is set to get a reboot and it’s got fans divided. Potter heads, what do you think?

thedailybeast.com ↗ · #279

Why we all need subtitles

It’s not you, it’s actually harder to hear. A fun exploration into the change of sounds in movies.

youtube.com ↗ · #276

The Rise of the Tech Bro Supervillain

For decades movie bad guys were easily identified by their moustaches or mwa-ha-has. These days, evil wears a hoodie.

wired.co.uk ↗ · #274